I don't want this to be too long, but I gotta vent.

This is my THIRD bout with depression. The first happened when I was 27 & freshly divorced & had to return home to live with my mom because I didn't have a decent job. Isaw a therapist 1x/week for 6mo. I was on prozac. I did not gain weight.

The 2nd time happened when I was 35 and I'd just miscarried. We tried Prozac... I experienced side effects that I didn't experience the 1st time I took it! And then after a couple other meds that did not work for me, doc put me on Paxil. I exercised 6 days/week (walked 2 miles in the a.m., 2 miles at lunch & 2 miles in the evening.... SIX MILES A DAY!) and I gained 30 pounds.


And now the 3rd time - I'm 43 and fighting perimenopause. I injured myself & couldn't exercise for a while. I am on Celexa. I gained about 20 pounds since Sept'05.... but another 20 since I've been on Celexa, which was Oct. 06. BUT I AM SANE. And if I have to choose between sanity & thinness, then I choose sanity.

So anyway, one doctor gave me the green light to start exercising again, and my regular doc has given the green light to use Adipex. This has helped me once before to lose almost 30 pounds. I will soon start decreasing my Celexa to half a pill every day, then to a single pill every other day, until I wean off.

My husband and I started South Beach diet on the new year, but messed up royally (phase I) at a friend's b'day party... so tomorrow - we start again. Went grocery shopping yesterday & bought the foods we need to be successful.

I am hoping to lose 5 pounds by the end of February. I don't think that is unreasonable.

I just wanted to vent... about depression & the medicine that helps it but does cause weight gain (for me.)

Thanks for listening and wish me luck!

Well...we have a couple of things in common....I am also on South Beach...and I suffer from depression. Isn't weird how meds work/don't work...add weight/loose weight. Our bodies work so differently. I also experienced different reactions to the same med used at different times. I agree about being sane rather than skinny. Good luck working out and sticking to your plan.

I'm on WW, but also on depression meds. Thankfully I haven't had any side effects with mine. I'm on Effexor. It helps with the depression and the anxiety.

I can empathize with you. While you don't want to sacrifice your sanity for thinness, you still want to lose weight for your overall health [physical and mental]. It's a tough battle when the meds we need to help us get better, may be making things worse in other areas of our lives.

5lbs by end of Feb is defintely achieveable! Good luck. Lots of